CIPD - 360 feedback

Performance management

Revised September 2008

This factsheet gives introductory guidance. It:

introduces 360 feedback
considers its value
looks at what makes good questionnaires and feedback reports
suggests questions to ask when choosing an online 360 feedback provider.

What is 360 feedback?

360 feedback (sometimes called 360 degree feedback) provides information on an individual from a number of sources. Its supporters claim that this gives managers and individuals better information about skills and performance, and working relationships. Normally, eight to 10 people fill in questionnaires describing the individual's performance. Often, the individual fills in a questionnaire for themselves too, assessing their own performance. Ideally the whole process should be anonymous and the feedback presented to the recipient by a skilled coach.

The questionnaire usually consists of a number of statements rated on a scale, for example from one to five, and often includes the opportunity to add free text comments. The report should summarise the answers given. It often shows the actual ratings given for each question, as well as averages for each question and for each competency, and any written comments (a ‘competency’ is an area of performance measured by a group of questions).

Different people use different terminology for those giving and receiving feedback. Examples are ’rater‘, ’ratee‘, ’appraiser‘, and ’appraisee‘. In this factsheet, the term ‘recipient’ is used for someone receiving feedback, and ‘respondent’ for someone giving feedback.

As the term ’360 feedback‘ suggests, the recipient receives feedback from those all around them in the organisation: from above (their manager, or managers), from below (their direct reports) and from alongside them (their peers or colleagues). And, in today's flexible and changing organisations, 360 feedback questionnaires are often filled in by a diversity of people, including suppliers and customers outside the business.

Why do 360 feedback?

Our 2005 Performance management survey found that 360 feedback is growing in popularity as an input to performance management. See our factsheets on performance management and performance appraisal for more information on those topics.

This is often because in more complex organisations traditional appraisal is failing to deliver what managers want. 360 feedback is useful because it provides:

New pertinent information about competencies, and how others see individuals.
Valuable input into many of HR's initiatives, for example coaching, training, leadership development, appraisal, etc.

Because organisations have become less hierarchical, managers often have multiple lines of reporting and there is much more team-based working, so feedback from just one manager is no longer sufficient. There are often closer working relationships with other stakeholders, for example clients, customers, and suppliers, who can add a different and valuable perspective.

Does it work?

Research on 360 feedback shows a consistent improvement in skills and performance (see Goodge and Burr¹ for a review of the academic research). However, research by the CIPD in 1997² could not adequately prove that performance management had an effect on business performance, although the research concluded that this was probably because there was not enough evaluation taking place.
If 360 feedback is to make a difference, it is important to ensure that:

The questions asked are short, clear and relevant to the person’s job. Atwater et al found clear, relevant questions to be absolutely critical³.
The respondents are credible to the recipient. London and Smither⁴ showed that larger samples of respondents are often more credible, and have more impact. However, enlarging the sample by adding respondents who are not credible to the recipient confuses the feedback and dilutes its impact.
Everybody gets some critical feedback. Research suggests that mild praise raises self-esteem, but produces no change, except to encourage existing behaviour⁵.

Done well, 360 feedback challenges the recipient's perceptions of their skills and performance, and provides the motivation to change. It can challenge perceptions in three ways:

The feedback on an aspect of behaviour is the opposite of what the recipient expects.
An aspect of behaviour is shown to be more (or less) important as an explanation of their performance than the recipient thought.
The results highlight relationships between aspects of behaviour.

It is often critical feedback that provides the greatest motivation to change, as long as the respondents are credible and their views are of value to the recipient. And good feedback gives people the information they need to change: it tells them in just which competencies their strengths or weaknesses lie.

What can people discover about themselves?

360 feedback should not bring any surprises to people. It should help them to understand how their behaviour is perceived by others and confirm the behaviour that is most likely to get results. If implemented appropriately, it can give good information about:

the difference between the way individuals see themselves and how they are perceived by others
the differences between the perceptions of different groups of respondents (for example, do the recipient's direct reports have a different view to his or her line manager?)
helping to make performance management a more objective and fair process.

What concerns will people have?

360 feedback is a sensitive issue. CIPD has come across instances where it has been questioned by individuals, many of which can be traced to inappropriate implementation. In general, if individuals are going to trust the 360 feedback process, practitioners must ensure that:

Issues of confidentially are clearly communicated detailing who will have access to the data and for what purpose.
It is clearly stated how feedback will be given and by whom.
The process for identifying respondents is clearly set out with recipients having some opportunity to input.
Sufficient time is allowed to pilot the process and to consult with individuals and employee groups on both the design and implementation of the process.
Both recipients and respondents are adequately briefed on the process, how to complete the relevant forms and the aims and objectives of the exercise.
Adequate opportunity is given for people to comment and raise their concerns.
People are not forced or coerced to take part by managers.
Feedback is never attributed to an individual, that feedback reports and developments plans are kept secure and that data protection rules are obeyed - see our factsheet on data protection.
- Go to our factsheet on Data protection
The process is constantly monitored and evaluated, all concerns acted on and any changes adequately communicated.

In organisations that do not have a tradition of open feedback or upward communication, it is likely that 360 feedback will be seen with greater levels of mistrust. This can be overcome with sufficient attention to the above issues but may also have to be accompanied with some pertinent challenges to the prevailing culture to establish higher levels of trust.

Generally, an organisation may not be ready for 360 feedback if is in the middle of a change programme which includes downsizing or restructuring and where the aims and objectives can be misinterpreted.

What does a good questionnaire look like?

Questionnaire wording

Questions should be relevant to the recipient's job. If they are not, the recipient will not be motivated to change or understand what changes are required.
Each question should be concise, use plain English, and omit qualifiers, such as ’when appropriate‘ and ’as necessary‘. Vague, complex questions rarely produce clear feedback.
Each question should be similar to other the questions used to measure its competency, and be different from all other questions relating to other competencies. Muddled competencies make muddled feedback.
Questions should set standards, for example ’Makes decisions‘ is a poor question, because the decisions made could be unclear, late, autocratic, or wrong.

‘Free text’ questions

These provide the opportunity to add comments in support of the answers to the rated questions. They can be enormously helpful. The recipient can look for frequently used words or phrases, and for common themes which explain or expand on the report’s findings. When wording these questions avoid the use of HR jargon and use clear language, for example ’what does the recipient do well‘, and ’what does the recipient need to improve?’

Rating scale

A performance scale, from ’poor‘ to ’excellent‘ for example, usually works best. Sometimes a frequency scale is used, (for example, from ’never does this‘ to ’always does this‘). The problem with this type of scale is that it confuses ability with opportunity.

What does a helpful feedback report look like?

The most helpful feedback reports:

are concise and simple to understand - lengthy complex reports just add to people's workload.
are visual - they use graphics to make findings stand out, and make it easy to see patterns and explore differences between questions and different respondents.
are self-explanatory - they need almost no explanation or interpretation.
avoid averages, statistics or factors - they just provide the ratings and written comments people give. Averages hide important information.

Helping people make good use of their feedback

In simply giving someone their feedback report and leaving them to work out its implications for themselves, not much will change. Most people need the help of a skilled coach to use their feedback to produce a personal development plan that is practical, relevant, short term, and aims for tangible results. The coach will help the recipient to:

focus on their goals – this gains their commitment to change
put the feedback into the context of what is expected of them, and of their goals, and of the skills and abilities they need to achieve those goals
work out for themselves the important messages from their feedback report (rather than just telling them what it says)
identify the things that they need to achieve and to come up with a realistic, short-term, low-cost and engaging plan for doing that. That plan will take into account possible obstacles that they could foresee, opportunities for getting support, how to involve their manager where appropriate, and how they will check on their progress.

What kind of summary reports are useful?

A summary 360 feedback report for a group of people, a team for example, or a group of delegates on a development programme, can give a sense of perspective. It can enable individuals to gauge their performance against others, and to assess their group against other groups. In the hands of a skilled facilitator, a good group report challenges thinking, raises new questions, and promotes good decisions. It should enable individuals to make better judgements about their capabilities, personal development and careers.

360 feedback online

Traditionally, 360 feedback was collected using pen and paper questionnaires. The opportunity to do 360 feedback online has done much more than reduce the time and effort required to distribute questionnaires and collate the answers.

Questionnaires are now interactive, so that:

Recipients can choose which competencies to receive feedback on.
Confidentiality is improved, as questionnaires and reports can be protected by passwords.
Questionnaire rules can improve the quality of feedback by, for example, requiring that a minimum number of questions are answered, and a minimum percentage of critical feedback, or of positive feedback.
Accuracy is improved - an online system can ensure that essential data is provided.

Other benefits of online systems are:

Reports are available online; answers can be collated instantly, so reports are immediately available and up-to-date. Reports can also include comparison with previous feedback.
The amount of administration required is much reduced. Individuals can be responsible for managing their own feedback, for requesting feedback and for chasing late questionnaires.
Demographic information can be collected, and the fact that data is held in a database simplifies analysis and the production of summary reports.

Choosing an online 360 feedback provider

Search Google UK for ’online 360 feedback‘ and you'll get over one and a half million matches. There is a huge selection of providers, and no doubt each will do 360 feedback slightly differently. In choosing a provider, it is important to ask the questions that will result in a system that fits your business, and complies with regulatory requirements and best practice.

Is it an easy, step-by-step process, with clear guidance and online help?
How flexible is it? Can it use your competencies? Can you choose the rating scale? Can you add your branding, extra supporting information and help pages? Will it cope with the number of users anticipated?
Is it easy for recipients to own the process, by requesting their own feedback, designing their own questionnaires, being involved in selecting, briefing and following up their respondents?
How useful are the feedback reports?
How much administration is involved? Does it minimise the opportunity for human error, and allow those that do occur to be quickly corrected?
Does it run on the Internet or on an intranet? If the latter, is it compatible with existing software, how will it be affected by changes or upgrades, and what are the maintenance overheads and security implications. If on the Internet, do people have access, and if not, what is involved in setting up access.
How responsive is the provider to requests for changes?
How is confidentiality protected?
Does the supplier offer strong information security? The ISO/IEC 17799 Code of Practice for Information Security Management⁶ establishes guidelines and general principles for organisations.
How accessible is the system to people with disabilities? The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) requires service providers to ensure the services they provide are accessible to people with disabilities. The DDA requirement applies to services delivered via the Internet and it applies to all businesses and all public sector organisations.

Is it worth doing 360 feedback for the second time?

People may ask ’Has all this effort on my personal development paid off?’ Repeating 360 feedback helps to identify those development options that work and don't work, for example before and after a training course. And it can be a great way of evaluating your investment in 360 feedback.

References

GOODGE, P. and BURR, J. (1999) 360° feedback: for once the research is useful. Selection and Development Review, Vol 15, No 2, April. pp3-7.
ARMSTRONG, M. and BARON, A. (1998) Performance management: the new realities. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
ATWATER, L., ROUSH, P. and FISCHTHAL, A. (1995) The influence of upward feedback on self- and follower ratings of leadership. Personnel Psychology. Vol 48, No 1, Spring. pp35-59.
LONDON, M. and SMITHER, J. (1995) Can multi-source feedback change perceptions of goal accomplishment, self, evaluations and performance related outcomes? Personnel Psychology. Vol 48, No 4, Winter. pp803-39.
MEYER, H. H. (1980) Self-appraisal of job performance. Personnel Psychology. Vol 33, No 2, Summer. pp291-295.
BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. (2005) ISO/IEC 17799:2005 Code of practice for Information Security Management. London: BSI. Available at:
http://emea.bsi-global.com/InformationSecurity

360 feedback